Run to the Top Podcast | The Ultimate Guide to Running

What is running biomechanics? How improving your mechanics can help improve your running performance and reduce susceptibility to injury? Find out in today's podcast from Coach Claire.

What the running community thinks about participating in 2020 races such as London Marathon? In today's episode, Coach Michael talks about the email responses he received on this topic and the reasons runners gave on why they want to run or not to run a race.

In this episode, Coach Dylan interviews Coach Ruairi about his latest race experience and then both talk about their race plans during this pandemic. Listen now!

‘Rona Racing: Why Matthew Hammersmith Is Still Holding Races   This episode is sure to spark controversy. Despite the coronavirus, some small races are still happening, including the “Carolina ‘Rona Reaper” in Greenville, South Carolina. Some runners are relieved to be racing again; others are angry and think holding races right now is irresponsible. Race director for the event, Matthew Hammersmith, answers Coach Claire’s questions on how events like this are even legal and possible, addresses the risks participants take when they sign up for a race, and talks about what his organization is doing to minimize those risks. Listen in and see if you would be willing to risk racing in person during the pandemic. Matt Hammersmith founded Upstate Ultras in 2014 and serves as the race director. He’s a lifelong runner who kicked off his career by hosting a running series (now known as the Knock on Wood Ultra Festival) as a way of meeting runners. He describes the event as “poorly organized” and “chaos,” but the results were “utterly fantastic” and he has since dedicated his career to coaching athletes and hosting races of all distances and surfaces. Matt was born in Ohio, raised in Indiana, and found his long distance running path while competing at Eastern Michigan University. He started running at age 14 and is still going. Matt’s personal bests range from running the 400 in 51.6, the mile in 4:08.17, the marathon in 2:31, and 100 miles in 17:48.  Matt coaches about 40+ youth athletes every year and about 40+ adult runners throughout the country. His organization has over 20 events on the calendar including kids’ races (always free), trail races, 5K beer races, some gimmick fun races, and of course some epic mountain ultra races! His events are cost effective and always have a charity component. He is very proud of some of the big impacts his events have had over the years. Matt has always been impressed by those who want to improve personal fitness and overall well being through physical fitness and nutritional awareness. An overall athlete and fitness guru, Matt’s competed at the local, state, and national level in sports like cross country, track and field, wrestling, football, and basketball. His passion and intensity is summed up quite perfectly here: “I have seen the outer limits of the human body and there is no better feeling when your body, mind, heart, and soul are connecting on every cylinder and you transform your image into something that you have always wanted.” Matt’s motivation comes from wanting to offer opportunity and challenge. He enjoys watching overwhelming accomplishments, especially since he knows from experience that most will fail in a spectacular fashion. But ultra/trail running is ultimately not about the finish line; it’s about the growth through the struggle, which should be good enough for anyone.  Questions Matthew is asked:          3:03 On your bio on the Without Limits website, it says you are a life-long runner and fitness guru.  Can you tell us a little bit about how you fell in love with running and eventually became a coach?   4:27 How was your progression from going from running 2 miles to running a 50K or 100 miles? Did you really just get an invitation for a 50K and you were like, “Sure, why not?”   5:18 How did you start getting into race directing?     6:31 Can you talk about some of the events that you organize?   7:35 With the pandemic, most running races around the world have been canceled and runners and race directors have had to make massive changes, and I wanted to talk to you about that. You decided to go ahead with your  "Carolina Reaper," which this year was called the "Carolina Rona Reaper."  Can you talk about the decision to go ahead and what safety measures you had in place?   9:31 I would love to get into the details of the safety measures you have in place. So for the Rona Reaper race, how did you actually do it? What do the safety measures actually look like?   11:06 Were runners wearing masks during the race?   12: 01 What’s your advice if somebody did want to sign up for one of these races? How do you pass somebody at a socially safe distance?   13:01 It's my understanding that the governor of SC issued an executive order prohibiting large groups, but it's up to local law enforcement officials to enforce that if they choose.  How did you address this issue?  Did you work with local law enforcement while organizing your event?   14:13 How do you address those who might be critical to hosting events like this during the pandemic, especially as cases are rising?   15:23 What about the next races coming up? Any particular challenges with those?   16:24 I’ve seen a lot of thumbs up for what you’re doing. What are some of the people who have attended your events or wanted to attend your events, what kind of reaction are you getting from them?   17:12 I would imagine if you were positive for COVID, it would be pretty hard to run a 30-mile or a 30-hour race?   17:57 What do you think is the future for racing in general? All of the majors have been canceled, the major marathons, with the exception of London. Probably by the time this airs, London will finally kick the bucket. What do you see as the future of racing?   21:39 Are there any silver linings or things that you have learned from this whole experience that you think will help you put on better races in the future?   26:03 I’d love to talk a little bit more about virtual races. Obviously, for a lot of people, that is the only option, and it’s harder obviously mentally to train for a virtual race. It’s not the same dopamine rush as it is having a real in-person event. How would you as a coach coach somebody who is training for a virtual event, or somebody who is just not on board with virtual but needs that carrot?   29:16 How do you feel about virtual racing? With technology there are a few things happening that some companies are doing to make it a little more interactive and make it feel like you’re racing somebody else. Have you seen any of these new technologies?   32:13 What is up next for you and Upstate Ultras? Questions I ask everyone:   33:22 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first started running, what advice would you give yourself?   34:06 What is the greatest gift that running has given you?   35:34 Where can listeners connect with you? Quotes by Matthew:   “Once I knew I wanted to start coaching and I wanted to meet some runners, I’m like, ‘Well, you know what? The best way to meet runners is to put on a race.’”   “Everything in life has a risk. We did everything that we possibly could to minimize the amount of risk that I thought was basically attainable for us as a race organization, but you’re going to have risk whether it’s endurance running or walking down the street or driving your car to Target. There’s always a risk.”   “We just focused on what can we do for the community right now, and putting on a virtual race is a great way.” Take a Listen on Your Next Run Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel Mentioned in this podcast:    UpstateUltra@gmail.com Without Limits Go-Green Events Upstate Ultra Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community RunnersConnect Facebook page claire@runnersconnect.net   Follow Matthew on: Facebook - Without Limits Facebook - SCUMRunner Instagram - Upstate Ultra We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top. The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use. The more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, the more I can reach out to and get top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!  

In today's podcast, Coach Hayley gives her top five tips to prevent injury that she mastered over 20 years of running. Tune in now to find out what mistakes she made along the way so that you don't make the same ones again!

What is balance training? What is the science behind it? Is it worth doing balance and proprioception exercises as a runner? How improving your balance can help prevent injuries? Find out in today's podcast from Coach Claire.

In this week's episode, Coach Michael talks about the new venture of our RC founder Jeff and how this company helps runners during this pandemic time. He then shares inspiring stories of one of our RC athlete - Sabina Havkins.

Coach Dylan and Coach Ruairi do a recap on some running related news that has happened during the last one to two weeks in today's podcast. Listen now!

At 79, Dr. Betty Holston Smith is Fitter Than You Are AT 79, Dr. Betty Holston Smith has the fitness level of your average 30-year old and looks at least 20 years younger than she is! How did the former 200-pound couch potato and cigarette smoker transition to a vegan 50 years ago when hardly anyone even knew the word vegan and become a highly fit ultra-marathon runner? Dr. Betty shares with Coach Claire her nature’s wisdom philosophy she’s developed and lived by over the last 50 years, how she eats and trains, and her lack of need for much sleep or recovery time despite running 60 to 100 miles per week. Her overall health proves the benefits of strict vegan diets and highly fit lifestyles; the bottom line is that you do not need meat and junk food to stay healthy and fit.  Dr. Betty’s top rankings in the national ultra-running community continues even as she ages. At ages 76 and 78, she set and later broke official USA-TF ultra-marathon national age group records for the 48-hour and 6-day ultra-marathon races. She is in the USA-Track and Field permanent record books. Currently, at age 79, she continues her national ranking by the ultra-running community (91.46% age group ranked and 49.06% overall ranked).  This strict plant eater has been a top-ranked ultra-marathon runner since she began running ultra-marathons in 2007. She took to running ultras after she completed 85 marathons run throughout the USA and on all seven Continents (a marathon on six including Antarctica), and a half marathon on the Great Wall of China. Now she trains for and uses marathons to train for ultras!  She has completed 30 ultras run in: Boston, San Francisco, Rhode Island, Vermont, Florida, Maryland, Virginia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. She is the founder and coach of the “Abandon Your Limits” land and deep-water running programs. Dr. Betty is currently running virtual races due to the pandemic and will continue to do so until the pandemic is controlled. She recently used a fitness age calculator developed by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The expected fitness level for her age of 79.6 is 26 VO2. According to the calculator, her fitness age is 45 VO2 and she has the fitness level of an average 30-year old. The free calculator is available at: https://www.worldfitnesslevel.org/#/ Prepare to be amazed and inspired by the one and only, Dr Betty Holston Smith! Questions Dr Betty is asked:          2:35 You are a 79 year old plant-based ultra runner and I suspect that you are healthier and fitter than most people listening to this show!  Can you talk about how you first started running and how you came to adopt a plant-based lifestyle?   12:12 How do you take your ego away from the finish line in a race?   12:27 You've talked about your life being  structured around "Nature's Wisdom." What does that mean for you?   23:24 You’ve said that you’re just a normal person that does a whole lot of good things. Well, I don’t know. Four hours of sleep doesn’t sound too normal. You said that you don’t need any recovery and you can still run 100 miles a week at almost 80 years old?   25:00 Have you ever been injured?   32:37 What foods do you eat every day? Questions I ask everyone:   40:39 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first started running, what advice would you give yourself?   42:06 What is the greatest gift that running has given you?   46:06 Where can listeners connect with you? Quotes by Dr Betty:   “I don’t know how many marathons, I’ve lost track, but I do know at some point I was at 85 marathons, and I have run marathons on each of the seven continents.”   “My running is passion. My running is perseverance. Those two things are great for all of life, not just running.”   “I bring all of my food to all of my races. I also have a log with the food items across the top, and across the left side going down, I keep track of when I’m eating what. Once I’m into a six-day race and it’s day three, I’m not going to remember when I drank the last water.”   Take a Listen on Your Next Run   Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel Mentioned in this podcast:    Vivobarefoot Shoes Clif 90% Organic Lemon Lime Powder Lifestyle by Nature book Danny Dreyer, Chi Running Founder - Runt To The Top Interview Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community RunnersConnect Facebook page claire@runnersconnect.net   Follow Dr Betty on:   drbettys@aol.com   We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top. The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use. The more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, the more I can reach out to and get top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!

In today's episode, Coach Hayley shares tips on how to train for the half marathon and how you can improve your running performance for that distance. Tune in now!